


crush

by ootn



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Crushes, Flirting, Getting Together, Idiots in Love, M/M, Masturbation, Mutual Pining, Sexual Content, Smut, is there a tag for cohabitating but not dating?, jaemin/donghyuck trying their best to be wingmen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-15
Updated: 2020-04-15
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:22:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23658301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ootn/pseuds/ootn
Summary: “Just stop, Jeno,” Jaemin says, pretending to sigh, “You’re giving me second hand embarrassment. Why don’t you stop staring at him and justtalkto him, he’s not that scary.“Heisscary! Imagine if he caught you looking and just like, stared at you like this—” He puts his spoon down and attempts an imitation of Renjun, raising his eyebrow and giving Jaemin a sort of blank stare that makes him cringe.“He wouldn’t do that if you didn’tstare at him all class,” Jaemin counters.
Relationships: Huang Ren Jun/Lee Jeno
Comments: 33
Kudos: 295
Collections: i met you in a dream





	crush

The thing about crushes is they develop out of nowhere, and they have absolutely no regard for any torment they might cause any one. 

This is exactly what Jeno is thinking about as he stares across the aisle at the boy who he’d only recently learned is named Renjun. He’s cute. He doesn’t smile a lot, but when he does it makes Jeno feel these weird butterflies in his stomach that he had _never_ felt before about anyone, male or female or otherwise. Renjun is currently laughing at something with his friend, who Jeno knows is Donghyuck, which he only knows because his roommate, Jaemin, is friends with Mark, who is friends with Donghyuck who is friends with, well. Renjun.

Jeno wonders if this could be considered stalking. He knows way too much about Renjun for someone he’s never spoken to. Also, why hasn’t this Jaemin connection lead to him ever being introduced to Renjun at some gathering? Mark looooves hosting ‘get togethers,’ as he calls them, which are really just a sad excuse for him and Jaemin and whoever else of their friends want to join to get drunk and talk about sex. Jeno has, admittedly, tagged along to more than one, and Donghyuck was there every time. Does he realize he’s killing Jeno slowly by never bringing Renjun with him?

He’s startled out of his daydream when he feels eyes on him, and he snaps out of it, eyes sliding guiltily back to Renjun no matter how hard he wills them not to. But it’s not for nothing, because Renjun has turned around and both he and Donghyuck are staring at him. Renjun raises an eyebrow, and Jeno flushes and returns to staring intently at the blank piece of paper in his notebook he’d turned to. When he feels it’s safe, he sneaks another look back up at Renjun, who has turned back around to face Donghyuck, thank god, but maybe it doesn’t even matter because Donghyuck catches his eye and sticks his tongue out at him.

He drops his head again and doesn’t lift it for the rest of class.

⭑

“Jaemin,” Jeno tries to act as casual as possible as he shovels some cereal into his mouth, “Who’s that Renjun kid you’re friends with?” He’s only guessing that Jaemin’s friends with him, because as Jaemin always tells him, “Any friend of Donghyuck is a friend of mine!” and he has a hunch he’s right. His effort at off-handedness is valliant, but pointless because Jaemin snorts immediately.

“Oh my god, Donghyuck told me you had a crush on him.” He smirks over his own cereal and Jeno flushes.

“I _don’t,_ I just, well, I mean I think he’s cute—”

“Just stop, Jeno,” Jaemin says, pretending to sigh, “You’re giving me second hand embarrassment. Why don’t you stop staring at him and just _talk_ to him, he’s not that scary, he’s like, five and a half feet tall,” Jaemin points out, and Jeno glowers. 

“He _is_ scary! Imagine if he caught you looking and just like, stared at you like this—” He puts his spoon down and attempts an imitation of Renjun, raising his eyebrow and giving Jaemin a sort of blank stare that makes him cringe. 

“He wouldn’t do that if you didn’t _stare at him all class_ ,” Jaemin counters.

“It’s not all class! It’s like for five minutes at the beginning when I’m bored and waiting for the professor! Everyone does weird shit then,” Jeno protests, but Jaemin just rolls his eyes. 

“ _Talk to him_.”

⭑

So he tries. It takes a lot of hyping himself up, but then before class one day he manages to gather enough balls to speed over to Renjun’s usual spot before Donghyuck does. He kind of short-circuits here, though, because his plan had mostly revolved around _getting_ there and the possibility of anything past that was too terrifying to think about in his tiny ass brain. So he just kind of stands there, staring blankly while Renjun looks at him expectantly.

Finally, he manages to choke out “Um, do you want to hang out sometime?” but Renjun says nothing. Jeno looks around the room wildly, almost as if he’s searching for Jaemin, the voice in his head telling him to “ _Just talk to him_ ,” but he meets Donghyuck’s gaze instead, who is sitting in Jeno’s own desk and watching the interaction with amusement.

Jeno needs to get his shit together. Never in his _life_ has he felt so flustered by anyone else, especially not a romantic interest. He’s supposed to be smooth! What the fuck happened to the Lee Jeno that could talk to anyone, no problem? He’s bombing this, so he finally asks “Do you want to study together sometime?”

Renjun cocks his head, like he’s thinking, for a moment before he gives Jeno a crooked half smile that simultaneously makes Jeno feel like he can breathe again and takes his breath away. “Sure,” Renjun says, and then in the blink of an eye he scribbles down some numbers onto a scrap of paper he rips out of his notebook before pushing it into Jeno’s palm. Jeno is frozen for a moment, but he recovers quickly, giving Renjun an awkward smile and mumbling “I’ll text you,” before scurrying away, tail between his legs even though he technically got what he wanted. It’s his pride that’s wounded, and he tries to tell himself it was worth it. 

He’s forgotten all about Donghyuck sitting at his desk, and when he gets back he meets Donghyuck’s giddy smirk with a scowl. “Jaemin told me that’d be fun to watch,” he says, still with that stupid grin on his face, and all Jeno can do is shove him out of his seat.

⭑

It takes Jeno a week to make good on his promise to text Renjun. Those nine digits bring him more anxiety than anything else in the world, even more than when Seol managed to escape out Jaemin’s open window and Jeno had to track her down. But finally, one boring Wednesday afternoon, Jeno manages to compose and send a text to Renjun within thirty minutes. He doesn’t even ask Jaemin for help! The moment he sends the text he curls up on the couch and pulls a pillow over his head. He’s going to die if Renjun rejects him.

He’s been sitting there for about ten minutes, curled into a ball and not looking at his phone when he hears the _ding_ of his messaging app. He hurls the pillow off of himself, which hits the bookshelf and makes it wobble— He cringes— And he peers at his phone sitting on the coffee table. He can vaguely make out an R, and he wishes he had his pillow back to hide behind. He stares at his phone for ten excruciating seconds before curiosity overtakes him and he snatches it.

**Jeno**

4:27 p.m.

_Hey it’s Jeno. Do you want to work on the term paper together sometime?_

**Renjun**

4:38 p.m.

_yeah sure when?_

He lets out a breath that he didn’t even know he was holding. _Thank god._

⭑

They meet at the library, and when Jeno arrives Renjun looks like he’s been there for hours. Jeno approaches, but doesn’t speak, choosing instead to fiddle with the strap of his backpack. He opens his mouth to say something, but Renjun beats him to it.

“You’re really hot, but if you’re trying to charm me you’re gonna have to work on the conversational skills,” he says off-handedly, and Jeno practically melts into the floor. 

“Sorry,” he mumbles, “I, um…” he sighs and plops down into the chair across from Renjun. “You make me so nervous and I have no idea why!” he finally admits, and Renjun laughs, a light, lilting one that Jeno is sure he could listen to for the rest of his life. 

“That’s cute, baby,” he teases, and despite his mortification at Renjun’s use of the word ‘ _baby'_ Jeno manages to mumble back “You’re cuter.” It’s cheesy and embarrassing, but it makes Renjun’s cheeks turn pink so Jeno thinks he’s done his job.

Renjun clears his throat. “Are we gonna work on this paper? You’d better be good at writing, because I need the help.”

As it turns out, Renjun doesn’t really need the help, but Jeno’s company, on the other hand, is something that’s more pleasant than he’d expected. 

⭑

Somehow, some way, these study dates in the library become a regular thing. Renjun is really good at math, Jeno discovers, and he helps Jeno with his calculus homework even though that was never part of the agreement. They do end up finishing their term papers, and when they finally submit them it’s a relief.

The day that they get their grades back, Renjun manages to speed into the library faster than Jeno’s ever seen him move. When he slams his paper down on the table in front of him Jeno’s not sure if he’s supposed to be looking at that, or at Renjun, who still looks gorgeous even when he’s winded and has his hair going every direction. 

“I’m so grateful I could kiss you,” Renjun declares, a little too loud for Jeno’s liking, and he blushes hard as he manages to respond, “You would have gotten a fine grade without my help, you’re good at writing.”

Renjun throws himself into the seat across from Jeno as he says, “I know. But I probably wouldn’t have started it so early if you hadn’t asked me out and it would have been shit.”

“I didn’t ask you out,” Jeno tries to defend himself, but Renjun just grins and says “But you wanted to, right?” Jeno rolls his eyes.

“What the hell are you even working on? The semester is D-O-N-E, and I know you don’t have anything due yet, no professor is _that_ cruel.” Jeno opens his mouth to defend himself, he _does_ have something due for anatomy before next semester and he’s fully anticipating Renjun calling him a nerd (it would be far from the first time), but Renjun has already moved on. “Let’s let loose tonight. Oh my god, Jeno, we need a fucking break. I think Hyuck’s frat is throwing something, he invited me. Wanna come with?” He says it so fast that it takes Jeno a second to process. But then he does, and he makes a face.

“I’m not going to a frat party,” he declares, and as far as he’s concerned, that’s the end of it. But it’s not, because Renjun pouts, and oh fuck, Jeno’s already reconsidering.

“Why not? They’re not even all that bad, c’mon Jeno, it’ll be fun.” He’s giving Jeno puppy eyes, and _no fair_ , because Renjun knows Jeno will do anything if he gives him those eyes. He learned this when Jeno was trying to leave to go home and go to bed because they’d been in the library for hours and he was exhausted, but Renjun demanded his company while he finished his assignment. Jeno ended up falling asleep on the table, and Renjun had bought him coffee the next day as a peace offering. Not that it was necessary, because deep down Jeno was flattered Renjun wanted his presence so badly.

Honestly, the idea of going to a party with Renjun is rather appealing. He doesn’t even care that it’s a frat party. But he’s fucking _nervous,_ which is humiliating. He’s probably put in hundreds of hours of studying with Renjun, and he’s way more comfortable around him than he was at the beginning of the semester when he was admiring him from afar. But he and Renjun have never done anything outside of study together, and Jeno reflects that it’s probably his fault, because he certainly could have asked Renjun to do _things_ together, things that don’t involve the library or studying, but he never did because he liked their relationship and didn’t want to risk fucking anything up by being, well, himself. _Stupid_ , he chides himself, because he knows Renjun would hang out with him if only he would just ask, and if he had hung out with Renjun before he’d be much more equipped to go to this party with him.

“Renjun…” Jeno starts, knowing he’s lost this argument before it’s even begun.

“Jeno.” Renjun says sweetly, sitting up straight and grabbing both of Jeno’s hands in his own, forcing him to drop his pencil, “You’re coming with me tonight.”

Jeno sighs. 

“It’ll be fu-un,” Renjun teases, raising his pitch at the end of ‘fun’ and waggling his eyebrows in a way that Jeno has to bite back laughing at. 

“Fine,” Jeno grumbles, but he’s having a hard time not smiling. 

“Ha! I knew you’d break, Jeno, you’re too soft for me,” Renjun declares, and Jeno narrows his eyes at him. “I’m not soft,” he protests, and Renjun chuckles, raising out of his seat a bit to ruffle Jeno’s hair. 

“Of course not, baby,” he says, and Jeno sighs. This is going to be a long night.

⭑

Renjun arrives at his apartment ten minutes early, but thankfully Jeno has been ready for half an hour because he was getting antsy just sitting around waiting for Renjun (His date? Companion? Study buddy? _Date??!?!_ ) to show. 

There’s something about Renjun that he can’t quite put his finger on, but then he does— 

“Are you wearing makeup?” 

Renjun looks down at his shoes shyly. “Does it look okay?”

“Yeah, actually, it really does,” Jeno says, and he realizes how whipped he sounds too late. But Renjun doesn’t seem to be thinking about that, and he peers up at Jeno through his lashes. 

“I don’t usually— Well, obviously you know that, you see me all the time, I just thought it would be fun, I don’t know—”

Jeno cuts him off. “Renjun,” he says, and Renjun’s mouth falls shut, “You look good. You look pretty. It’s nice.” This time, Renjun is the one to blush.

“Thanks,” he says in a whisper, and Jeno nods, giving him a reassuring smile.

“Let’s go then, yeah?” 

It takes Renjun about three drinks to be practically belligerent, something Jeno probably should have predicted considering how _tiny_ he is. True to his word, the frat party isn’t all that bad, and Donghyuck is thrilled to see them. (Though he takes Jeno aside and threatens him with a handful of equally terrifying fates if Jeno so much as lays a finger on Renjun without his explicit consent, and Jeno barely has a chance to protest that he would _never_ before Donghyuck winks at him and drags him back to Renjun and their other friends.) Jeno is introduced to more people than he can keep track of, and Renjun forces him to dance with him but he enjoys it, despite all his protests. 

By the end of the night, Jeno is more than tipsy and Renjun is so gone that he can’t even remember his address when Jeno offers to walk him home. Donghyuck is off somewhere with Mark, something that Jeno did not see coming at all but somehow also makes a lot of sense. Now he’s stuck with Drunk Renjun, who is quite literally all over him and also _growled_ at some girl who tried to talk to him. 

“I need to take you home,” Jeno says, more to himself than Renjun, but Renjun hears him anyway.

“Take me home? I’d love for you to,” Renjun slurs, trying to wiggle his eyebrows and failing miserably. 

Jeno rolls his eyes. “You know what I mean. Do you really not know your address?”

“I know it,” Renjun protests weakly, “I just can’t, um, remember it.” He collapses against Jeno, who stumbles back a little and has to loop his arms around his waist to hold them both steady. 

Jeno’s brain is playing tug of war with itself right now. He should take Renjun back to his place and just risk dealing with a _very_ awkward morning tomorrow. The only other option is leaving Renjun with someone here, and the only person he trusts Renjun with is Donghyuck, who is indisposed at the moment and Jeno isn’t going to risk it. He supposes Jaemin could help, if he even knew where _he_ was, he might know where Renjun lives… He shakes his head. He really only has one option.

“Renjun… Let’s go home, okay?”

Renjun sighs happily. “Okay, baby.”

This boy is going to be the death of him.

⭑

“Renjun, stop,” Jeno warns, trying his hardest to stop Renjun from kissing him while simultaneously trying to unlock his apartment door. The moment he does, they tumble inside, Renjun clinging to Jeno as he fumbles to turn the light on and lock the door behind them. 

“Take your shoes off,” he orders, and Renjun pouts before taking his attention off of Jeno for the fraction of a second it takes to kick his shoes off. Jeno takes his off, too, and he manages to pull Renjun’s jacket off and hang it up next to his own. He spins back around, and now that he doesn’t have anything to distract himself with he’s stuck with the reality of Renjun, drunk and adorable and standing in his living room. 

“I wanna kiss you, Jeno, baby,” Renjun whines, and he’s on Jeno in seconds, wrapping his arms around Jeno’s neck and looking at him with the puppy eyes he knows make Jeno soft. Renjun’s habit of calling him ‘baby’ is embarrassing enough when they’re both sober, but too much to handle when they’re both drunk. Jeno feels his head spinning.

“Renjun, you’re drunk,” Jeno says, and there’s a finality in it that makes Renjun frown. 

“So what! You are too,” he protests, and Jeno sighs before reaching up to remove Renjun’s arms from around his neck. He pulls them down, holding Renjun’s hands in his own as he tries to get Renjun to calm down. 

“That’s exactly why you’re _not_ going to kiss me,” he replies, and Renjun groans. 

“Jeno, ohmygod just let me kiss you, I want you to _fuck_ _me_ , c’mon Jen,” Renjun pleads, clearly fueled by his own intoxication and making Jeno blush bright red. “You wanna fuck me too, don’t you?” he says, sly as he sidles a little closer to Jeno. Jeno sighs. 

“Renjun, you’re drunk,” he says for the umpteenth time, and Renjun just rolls his eyes.

“You wanna fuck me, Jeno, I _know_ you do,” he continues on, and Jeno wonders if he agrees if Renjun will just shut up.

“Yes, Renjun, I do, but not while we’re both drunk and certainly not right now.” Renjun scowls. 

“You’re cock blocking yourself, idiot,” he whines, and Jeno chuckles despite himself. “What was the point of bringing me here if you won’t even put your cock in my ass?” Renjun pouts, and Jeno thinks he’s going to die of embarrassment before this evening is over.

“I brought you here because you can’t even remember your own address right now and I wasn’t going to let you try to go home with some random creepy dude and get murdered.” Renjun makes a face at him, and Jeno gives him a half-smile.

“I only wanna go home with _you_ ,” he slurs, “No creepy dude.”

“You’re home with me right now.”

“Exactly, so let’s fuck.”

Jeno rubs a hand over his face.

“Trust me, you’re going to wake up and regret it if we have sex right now, Renjun. Let me take you out tomorrow, for real, if you even still want to be around me when you wake up, and then we’ll see.”

Renjun seems to ponder this for a moment, before he finally agrees. “Fine. But, you’d better cuddle with me.” He puts a finger over Jeno’s lips when he opens his mouth to protest. “I know you’re too much of a gentleman, you’re going to offer me the bed and sleep on the couch, I’m not having it. If you’re not going to fuck me into the mattress we might as well make some other use of it,” and Jeno just sighs again. 

“Fine. But clothes stay _on,_ ” he says firmly, and Renjun scowls but doesn’t say anything else.

Jeno leads Renjun into his bedroom and thanks god his roommate isn’t home when he passes Jaemin’s empty bedroom. There’s no way Jaemin would have let him live this interaction down if he were here to witness it.

He digs around in his wardrobe for a moment before grabbing an old t-shirt of his and a spare pair of boxers before handing them to Renjun and shoving him toward the bathroom to change, pointedly ignoring Renjun’s offer of a strip-tease.

While Renjun is changing, he pulls on his own pajamas, but Renjun bursts out of the bathroom before he can put a t-shirt on. Jeno’s heart makes an involuntary flip when he sees Renjun, clad in Jeno’s own shirt which is way too big for him and just comes down to the tops of his thighs, which he tries very hard not to stare at while Renjun laughs at him as he turns pink. 

“Look at _you_ ,” Renjun comments, directing the attention away from himself and instead very obviously admiring Jeno’s abs. “If you put a shirt on, I’ll kill you,” Renjun declares, and Jeno can’t argue with that, so he leaves his shirt off and watches Renjun climb into his bed as if it’s his own. Renjun buries himself under the covers immediately, then pokes his head out to ask impatiently, “Are you coming or not?”

Jeno runs a hand through his hair resignedly, before he finally gets into bed with Renjun, who is very cute and very small and still very drunk. Renjun practically broke him down tonight and Jeno’s honestly amazed at himself for being able to keep it in his pants. 

The moment Jeno climbs under the covers, Renjun wraps himself around him, tangling their legs together and laying his head on Jeno’s chest and sighing happily. 

“‘Night, Jeno,” he mumbles, “I’ll see you in the morning,” and a moment later he’s out.

“Goodnight, Renjun,” Jeno whispers back, even though he knows the elder can’t hear him, before he drifts off himself.

⭑

Jeno wakes up to Renjun still curled into his side. It makes his heart beat a little faster, looking at Renjun’s sleeping face on his chest, because Renjun is possibly even cuter when he's asleep than he is when he’s awake. This sentiment doesn’t last long, however, because Renjun wakes up a few moments later and asks indignantly, “Were you watching me sleep?!” Jeno has to quickly cover his face with his arms to avoid getting hit in the head when Renjun tries to whack him with a pillow.

He gets over it, though, and yawns (adorably) before asking, “Breakfast?” 

Renjun digs through Jeno’s dresser himself this time while Jeno takes a shower, and when he emerges Renjun is wearing an ensemble out of clothes he didn’t even know he had. They fit Renjun well, so he supposes it’s good he didn’t get rid of all the pieces he (mostly his muscles) outgrew and kept them stuffed in his drawers for this exact reason.

(He also borrows Jeno’s toothbrush, ew, but Renjun reminds him the alternative is grosser and “What if you want to kiss me later?” So Jeno lets him.)

Renjun tells Jeno about this place he wants to go, and it’s about a ten minute drive away but it turns into double that because Renjun keeps getting distracted by talking instead of giving directions. But they make it there eventually, and it takes them forever to decide what to get before they ultimately end up ordering three different dishes and splitting them all. They’re both ravenous after a night of a lot of drinking and not very much food, and they fill the gaps between bites with conversation.

It’s easy being with Renjun, Jeno realizes. He knew it was, they’ve put in enough hours studying together, but actually hanging out with him is different. They talk about real things, not just homework, and it just makes Jeno like Renjun even _more_. Renjun shares a lot about himself, and surprisingly, Jeno does too. Renjun gets him talking so easily that it would be harder _not_ to tell Renjun about himself.

When Renjun finally polishes off the last of their breakfast (he can eat a _lot_ , like, more than Jeno), he slumps down in the booth and shuts his eyes briefly. He cracks one eye when the waitress brings them their bill, and sits up quickly and snatches it right out of Jeno’s hands.

“I thought I was taking you out,” Jeno protests, but Renjun counters with “You let me sleep in your bed last night,” so he forfeits.

When they leave, Renjun takes his hand, which fits quite well into Jeno’s, and tugs him toward the bookstore next door. Jeno spends the rest of the day amusedly letting Renjun drag him around town and basically do whatever he wants.

By the time dusk starts to set, Jeno involuntarily checks his phone to see that _shit_ — He’s supposed to be meeting Jaemin back at their place to work on that pre-term project for his anatomy class next semester. He relays this to Renjun, trying his best to express that he doesn’t _want_ this escapade to end, but it must, for the sake of Jeno’s grade point average, but Renjun shrugs and says, “Okay, let’s go,” and Jeno ends up with Renjun right back in his apartment all over again.

⭑

Renjun is sprawled out on his couch, eating Cheez-its straight from the box and watching tv while Jeno and Jaemin sit in their kitchen and work on this godforsaken anatomy project that can go straight to hell, as far as Jeno is concerned. Jaemin didn’t say anything when Jeno showed up with Renjun in tow, but now that he’s distracted and out of the way Jeno can _feel_ the interrogation coming. 

“What is he still doing here?” Jaemin hisses, and Jeno glares at him.

“We were hanging out until you had to drag me back here, and he just… Came with? Why do you care? He’s not bothering you.”

Jaemin rolls his eyes. “My god, idiot, I don’t care that he’s here, he’s my friend too,” he elaborates, and Jeno winces because he did kind of forget that Renjun was Jaemin’s friend first. “What I’m saying is, are you two…?” Jeno blushes, something he does rather frequently whenever Renjun is involved. 

“I don’t really know where I stand with him,” Jeno sighs, “He really wanted me to fuck him last night but—”

“Wait, for real? What the fuck do you mean you don’t know where you stand with him, it seems pretty obvious to me!”

“Shh!” Jeno hisses, because Jaemin is getting a bit too loud for him to be comfortable, especially when Renjun is in such close range. “I mean, I dunno… I just don’t know! I’m not good with these things, you know this,” Jeno finishes weakly, and Jaemin gives him a pained look. “Jeno…”

“Jaemin, I don’t know. He knows I like him, and what if that’s why? What if he just wants to, you know… not to sound like an absolute moron, but what if he just wants to hit it and quit? And I’m an easy target, because he knows I like him, and—” Jaemin cuts him off.

“Jeno… I don’t think that’s the case.” He gives Jeno a sympathetic look anyway, because he’s a good friend. “If it were, why would he still be here right now? You’re not even talking, let alone fucking,” he says, and Jeno can admit to himself that he does have a point.

“It kinda seems like he just wants to be around you, and I’m no expert, but that doesn’t sound like someone who’s trying to hit it and bounce.”

“I guess, but… it’s nice, actually being friends with him, and now… I don’t know if I want to risk that.”

“I think it’s worth the risk, dude,” Jaemin says, and Jeno sighs.

It’s at this point that Renjun prances over, offering to help with their project because he’s bored. Jeno offers to take him home, _again_ , to which he responds “And miss out on your company? No way.” Jeno kicks Jaemin under the table when he smirks at him. 

For some reason, Renjun ends up cooking them dinner out of the various ingredients they have in their kitchen (it’s not much, so Jeno is surprised when it actually tastes good), and afterwards the three of them watch a movie. Renjun doesn’t try anything, surprisingly, but also maybe out of respect for Jaemin. He just curls up into Jeno’s side and grabs his hand, which Jeno has no complaints about. By about eleven Jeno just assumes Renjun’s staying over again. Except, when the movie’s over Renjun announces that it’s time for his departure, and Jeno and Jaemin exchange a glance. 

“Why don’t you—”

“You can just—” They say at the same time, and Jaemin laughs, letting Jeno finish.

“You can just stay over, if you want,” Jeno says, and Renjun grins. 

“What, is my presence just that appealing?” he teases.

“Yeah,” Jeno says simply, taking everyone by surprise (even himself!) because he’s usually the king of denial, and Renjun turns a little pink.

“Well, in that case,” he says in a small voice, and Jaemin excuses himself. 

“You don’t have to stay,” Jeno says the moment Jaemin’s left the room.

“You don’t have to _let_ me stay, I feel like I’ve slightly overstayed my welcome,” Renjun points out, and Jeno scoffs.

“You know it’s not a big deal, we have the room,” Jeno says, and now Renjun’s the one giving him a look.

“You’re kind of missing the point, baby,” he says sweetly, and a lightbulb goes off in Jeno’s brain. He really is an idiot. Renjun wants him to tell him he wants him to stay. 

“Renjun,” Jeno says, grabbing his hand, “I want you to stay. Okay?”

Renjun’s face lights up, and he gives Jeno a peck on the cheek. “Well, why didn’t you say so before?” 

Jeno rolls his eyes.

⭑

By the time Monday rolls around, Renjun’s been in Jeno’s apartment the entire weekend and _nothing_ has happened. They’ve held hands some, they’ve cuddled _a lot_ , but Jeno has yet to make a single move.

It’s driving Renjun mad.

He’s in the shower, using Jeno’s shampoo for the nth time in a row and he’s starting to _smell_ like Jeno. Not that he minds, but he wishes he smelled like Jeno for reasons other than using his grocery store brand shampoo for three days straight.

Thinking about Jeno in the shower is a bad idea, Renjun realizes, because he’s already getting hard. He groans a little, but he also leaps at the chance to jack off, because he hasn’t had a chance to all weekend (and a certain someone won’t _fuck him senseless_ ) and doing it alone in Jeno’s bed while Jeno is out just feels _wrong_. Renjun pours some shampoo into his palm, coating his fingers and not even caring that it will probably sting. If Jeno’s not going to touch him, he’ll do it himself. He bends over a little, bracing himself against the shower wall and reaching behind him to prod at his hole. 

Renjun pushes two fingers in at once, groaning as he scissors them rapidly before adding one more. He _hates_ how skinny his fingers are. Jeno has nice, thick fingers, Renjun knows from how much time they’ve spent holding hands (and nothing else, sigh), and he thinks they’d fill him up nicely. He lets himself imagine that he has two of Jeno’s fingers inside himself instead of three of his own. 

He whines as he grinds down on his fingers, gasping a little when he brushes his spot and reaches to stroke his dick. Renjun just thinks of Jeno, Jeno’s handsome face, Jeno’s big hands, Jeno’s strong thighs. He wants him so bad. He’s hardly even paying attention to how close he is, and when he whines out a cry of “Jeno,” it’s only a few more strokes before he cums, white hot all over the shower wall. He knows he should feel ashamed, but he can’t find it in himself to be. 

After he gets dressed he sits on the edge of Jeno’s bed. He was drying his hair off with a towel, but he gave up and now he’s just sitting there, elbows on his knees with his face buried in the damp towel. He yells into the towel, and then takes a deep breath. Better.

He knows Jeno likes him, he has since Donghyuck first pointed out that Jeno had a habit of watching him during class. He had always thought Jeno was attractive, he hadn’t been lying when he told Jeno he thought he was hot on their first study date, and he had always had fun teasing Jeno about his rather obvious crush.

Has he missed something? Did Jeno give up and start to pursue someone else? Or worse, does Jeno think _Renjun_ doesn’t like him? He muses over this possibility, but it doesn’t make sense. Always calling Jeno ‘baby,’ holding his hand… begging to fuck him when he’s drunk… he cringes. Could _that_ be it? Renjun doesn’t really get drunk, so how was he supposed to know that he was going to end up like some crazed sex addict? But Jeno was so nice to him, held him all night, _didn’t put a shirt on when Renjun told him not to_ … Renjun shakes his head, as if that will help him clear it. He screams into the towel again, and it’s about 0.5 seconds before he hears footsteps down the hall. Shit.

Jeno bursts in, seemingly in a panic, and spots Renjun on the bed, with his head still in the towel in his hands.

“Renjun?” Said boy lifts his head. 

“Jeno?”

“Um… are you okay? Jesus Christ, Renjun, you can’t just yell like that, god… You scared me.” He runs a hand through his hair. 

“Sorry,” Renjun says sheepishly, “I was just, uh, taking my frustrations out on this towel.” He gives Jeno one of those sweet smiles of his, and Jeno shakes his head. 

“Do you want to talk about it?” Renjun thinks he wants to strangle Jeno with the towel. _No you idiot,_ you’re _the frustrations_. But he just shakes his head. Jeno shrugs and gives him one last look before he ducks back out of the bedroom. 

Renjun flops on his back in the middle of Jeno’s bed. 

What the fuck is he supposed to do now?

⭑

What he decides to do is lay it on _thick._ If Jeno is somehow so oblivious to the fact that Renjun wants him, well, he’ll just make it impossible for him to not know. Renjun is still staying at Jeno’s, for some reason, a reason that makes zero sense if they aren’t having sex. They aren’t even dating! Jeno brings Renjun to his apartment to grab some clothes and his own toothbrush, and also to say hi to Chenle before disappearing again. Chenle yells after him as he leaves that Renjun is lucky he has friends that want to stay over every night, because he’s lonely and he could make Renjun stay here if he wanted to. Renjun ignores him. 

On Monday night, Renjun sneaks up behind Jeno when he’s chopping vegetables (he’s no cook, but he’s trying pretty hard for Renjun, and it’s endearing) and gives him the tightest back-hug that he can muster. Jeno starts a little, and pats his hand, but mostly he scolds him because Renjun “could have gotten hurt if I hadn’t been paying attention.” Renjun breathes in the scent of Jeno, face buried into his broad back, before letting out a deep sigh. Then Jeno tells him to set the table, and he does so dutifully. 

On Tuesday morning, Renjun gets up early and walks to the Starbucks a few blocks over to grab them both Americanos. He asks the barista to write _baby_ on one of them, with a heart, which is a bit embarrassing but whatever, he’ll do it for Jeno. When he presents it to him, Jeno gives him a huge grin and says “Thank you, Renjun,” as he ruffles his hair. 

On Wednesday around noon, Renjun calls Jeno after class and asks if he wants to meet for lunch. Jeno says of course, and they wind up at some small café that Renjun’s never heard of but Jeno swears by his life on. Renjun pays, once again, and Jeno protests a bit more than he expected but eventually gives up. He tells himself that Jeno giving up on splitting the bill without Renjun even having to bring up their current living situation is a good sign.

On Thursday, Renjun texts Jeno a link to some random astrology article about how compatible their signs are. Jeno texts back _Haha cute_ within like ten minutes, and that’s that.

On Friday, Renjun is thinking he might pull a Brittany Spears and shave his whole head. Maybe _that_ would be enough to get Jeno to pay attention to him. He stares at himself in his phone camera, trying to look at his head from different angles. Would he look good bald? He’s still contemplating this when Jeno walks in, sneaking up behind Renjun on the couch and he doesn’t even notice until he realizes he can see Jeno’s face in his camera, and he jumps.

“Jeno!”

“What? It’s not my fault that you didn’t hear me come in.” Renjun grumbles something to himself about making himself known in his own apartment which Jeno pretends not to hear.

“Anyway,” Jeno says, walking around the couch so he’s in front of Renjun, who looks up at him, not unlike the way he did all those weeks ago when Jeno first approached him in class. “Do you have anything nice here? Get dressed, I’m taking you out,” and Renjun turns pale.

“Wait, really?”

“Duh,” Jeno says, already heading to his bedroom, as if he didn’t just formally ask Renjun out after all these days of Renjun pining after him. Jeno stops halfway down the hallway. “If you don’t, you can borrow something of Jaemin’s, I’m sure he has something you’d look beautiful in,” and then he spins on his heel and enters his bedroom.

Renjun just sits there, shell-shocked. Is he imagining this? Wait, when did Jeno become so fearless? His mind is completely blank, and then remembers his phone in his hand. Without even thinking, he calls Donghyuck. 

Donghyuck ends up whisking him away before their date, peeking his head to yell into Jeno’s apartment that he’ll “have your boyfriend back soon,” which earns him a smack from Renjun.

“He’s not my boyfriend,” he had protested weakly, and Donghyuck pretended he didn’t hear him. That seemed to be a common theme tonight. 

Now they’re at dinner, and Renjun is just a bit overwhelmed. “You look handsome” had come out of his mouth before he realized what he was saying, and Jeno had given him a smile and responded “So do you.” 

Jeno wants to make a toast, to their first date, he says, and Renjun frowns. “Hey, what about breakfast?”

“Doesn’t count,” says Jeno, taking a sip.

“Why? Because I paid?” Renjun asks indignantly. 

“No,” Jeno says, and he doesn’t elaborate.

Slowly, Renjun starts to relax. This is so _new_ to him, though he hates to admit it. Their whole relationship, Jeno had always been the shy one and Renjun the bold one. Now that the roles have switched, Renjun feels a bit dumbfounded. He’s just not used to not having the upper hand. But as he watches Jeno laugh at something he’s said, he realizes that maybe it’s okay. Maybe _neither_ of them have the upper hand. He recalls how nervous Jeno was when they first met, when they first started hanging out with one another. Yeah, Jeno definitely doesn’t have the upper hand. 

Renjun is gradually starting to realize that this relationship he had with Jeno, whatever it is, is one of the most authentic ones he’s ever had. It’s probably up there with his relationship with Hyuck. All of his previous relationships have involved some degree of calculation, a healthy dose of planning and some slight manipulation that resulted in what he thought was a perfect relationship, but it was just a strained and ultimately uncomfortable one. Even though he doesn’t necessarily feel comfortable in this relationship, or whatever he has with Jeno, it’s not a bad uncomfortable. It’s just an uncomfortable that keeps him a little on his toes, not sure what to expect, but everything that’s a surprise is a pleasant one. 

Maybe this is what he needed all along. Maybe he just needed a certain Lee Jeno to come along and rock his world a bit, and show him what it means to be genuine with someone.

Jeno waves a hand over Renjun’s face. “Am I boring you?” he teases, and Renjun sticks out his tongue at him. “Whatcha thinking about?”

“Kissing you,” Renjun responds, straightforward and honest, and Jeno flushes, reassuring him. The Jeno he knows and loves is still in there.

“Do you want dessert first?”

The look Renjun gives him is significant enough.

⭑

“Renjun,” Jeno says, experiencing slight dejavu as he tries to get inside his apartment with Renjun clinging to him once more. Except this time, he’s not telling him to stop.

Renjun kisses his neck as Jeno unlocks his front door, and they tumble inside. Their jackets and shoes are off in seconds and when Renjun pins him to a wall, Jeno lets him.

Finally, fucking _finally_ , their lips touch for the first time and it’s better than either of them were anticipating. They start with a couple gentle kisses and then Renjun slips his tongue into Jeno’s mouth almost immediately. Jeno lets Renjun lead the way as he cups Renjun’s face in his hands. Renjun pushes his hands up Jeno’s shirt, biting down lightly on Jeno’s bottom lip and sighing into his mouth. Jeno pulls away for a minute, and he says “Do you wanna, um, move?” blushing even though he’s the one offering.

Renjun is charmed, he loves this Jeno who takes initiative even through his shyness. He has to tease him a little, just because he finds it so endearing. 

“Move where?” Jeno groans a little, but he holds his ground, amazingly.

“To the bedroom, Renjun,” he says, and this time it’s Renjun’s turn to blush.

“I do,” Renjun says, “I do but I wanna…” He slides onto his knees, and Jeno gulps. “I wanna suck your fucking dick, Jeno,” Renjun murmurs, and Jeno instinctively reaches to stroke Renjun’s hair.

“Shit, Renjun,” Jeno mumbles, and Renjun grins up at him. Renjun unzips his pants, unbuckling his belt and pulling Jeno’s slacks down. He doesn’t say anything, just mouths at Jeno’s bulge through his briefs. “You’re getting my underwear wet,” Jeno says, and Renjun murmurs “It’s already wet.” And he’s not lying, there’s a wet spot of precum on the front of his underwear. But regardless, Renjun pulls his briefs down and grabs Jeno’s cock. He pumps it a few times, looking Jeno in the eyes as he takes the tip of his cock into his mouth. 

Jeno lets his head fall back and hit the wall, but then when Renjun takes him further into his mouth with an obnoxious slurping noise he looks down at the boy at his feet once again. 

“You’re so pretty,” Jeno says, because his brain is fried just from the sight of Renjun’s mouth around his dick and he can’t stop thinking about how bad he wants to be inside him. Renjun doesn’t say anything, but he continues to look Jeno in the eye as he swallows his cock further. Jeno manages to gasp out “Renjun, don’t,” and Renjun pulls off his dick to pout at him.

“You want me to stop?”

“No, Renjun, I don’t, but if you keep that up I’ll come before…” he trails off, and Renjun smirks but raises back onto his feet.

“Fine, let’s go then,” he says, and he drags Jeno rather unceremoniously to his bedroom. The second they can close the door Jeno makes his way to the bed, and Renjun pounces. He pushes Jeno onto the bed, crawling over him and sucking on his neck. 

“Renjun,” Jeno says, and Renjun doesn’t do anything other than grunt as he continues to mouth at Jeno’s jaw.

“Renjun,” Jeno repeats, and god, Renjun could listen to Jeno say his name forever. He’s so distracted by that thought that it takes him by surprise when Jeno manages to flip them over. He lays on his back, mouth open a fraction out of shock as Jeno hovers over him. Jeno kisses him gently before pulling away, and Renjun’s so lost in his eyes that he barely registers Jeno pulling off his own slacks and briefs. 

Jeno wraps a hand around Renjun’s cock, and he fists it, dry and rough as Renjun arches his back involuntarily. He whines, he wants to kiss Jeno again but Jeno’s making him feel too good. “Grab the bottle in my drawer,” Jeno commands, and Renjun blindly opens the top drawer of Jeno’s bedside table before feeling around for said bottle. He gets it, and it’s lube, obviously, and his cheeks are a bit pink as he hands it to Jeno. “Thank you, baby,” Jeno says, flipping the script on Renjun, who just whimpers.

Jeno opens the lube and slicks his fingers up, and he hesitates for a second, circling one finger around Renjun’s hole before he pushes it inside. Renjun makes a small noise, and Jeno grins up at him before adding another.

“God, Jeno, your fingers are so good,” Renjun pants, and Jeno scissors them again. “They’re better than mine,” he adds thoughtlessly, but this comment gets Jeno’s attention.

“Do you ever think about me when you do it?”

“Yeah,” Renjun gasps.

“Really? When?” There’s genuine curiosity in Jeno’s voice and Renjun reaches to brush a thumb over his cheek bone. Renjun lets his hand rest on the side of Jeno’s face, and Jeno turns his head a little to press a kiss to it. “Answer me,” Jeno requests, and Renjun’s already forgotten what he was supposed to say. 

“Jen, what,” Renjun whines, distracted by the way Jeno’s fingers are moving inside him, and Jeno tsks at him.

“When did you touch yourself to the thought of me?”

“In the shower,” Renjun sighs as Jeno brushes against his walls, “In the shower, on Monday. Fingered myself and pretended it was you.” He arches his back again as Jeno strokes over his prostate. 

“You’re shameless,” Jeno muses, “Touching yourself in my own shower? Thinking about me?” 

Renjun gives him a cheeky grin, which turns quickly into an ‘O’ as he gasps. “Yeah, I did, you were taking too long,” he whines, scowling a little at Jeno, who kisses it right off of his face. 

“I didn’t hear you,” says Jeno, “but did it sound like this?” He adds a third finger, and Renjun lets out a moan that goes straight to Jeno’s dick. 

“Yeah, it did— Fuck, Jeno. I want you inside me _now_ ” he requests breathlessly, and Jeno smirks. Renjun wants to know where the hell _this_ Jeno has been hiding away, this bold, daunting Jeno that comes out during sex who is so contrary to the shy, embarrassed Jeno who was so nervous to ask him to study together and blushes when Renjun even alludes to anything PG-13. He’s certainly not complaining, though, because he wants this Jeno to ruin him. He voices this to Jeno, whose eyes darken as he removes his fingers from Renjun’s hole. Renjun whines at the feeling of being empty, and when Jeno situates himself on his knees Renjun reaches for the lube himself and slicks Jeno’s cock up with it in an attempt to speed up the process.

“Do you wanna do it like this?” Jeno asks, holding himself above Renjun, missionary style, and a few lewd images flash through Renjun’s mind of Jeno taking him several different ways, of himself riding Jeno, of Jeno fucking him on his hands and knees, of Jeno taking him up against a wall. But he wants to see Jeno their first time, wants to be able to kiss Jeno as he fills him up and so he tells Jeno, “Yeah, wanna see your face, baby.” Jeno nods.

Renjun is fixated on the way Jeno won’t say _fuck,_ the way he’s saying _do it_ even when he’s about to be inside him. It’s kind of charming, actually, how gentlemanly Jeno always tries to be.

“Always so sweet,” Renjun murmurs, cupping Jeno’s face in his hands. “Even when we’re both naked in bed together you still won’t say you want to fuck me.”

Jeno flushes at this. “I already told you I wanted to,” he protests, and Renjun shakes his head.

“It doesn’t count when we’re both drunk.” He brushes a strand of Jeno’s hair out of his face. “Tell me you want me.”

“I want you so bad, Renjun.” 

Renjun smiles at him. “You have me,” he says.

Jeno pushes Renjun back into the mattress, kissing messily along his jaw before he responds. “I want to make you mine,” he admits, and now Renjun is the one who’s flustered. “Jen—”

Jeno shushes him by kissing him again, and he sucks a mark on the sensitive skin right below Renjun’s jaw. “I’m yours, Jen,” Renjun says breathlessly, and Jeno hums. He pulls back, and he looks Renjun right in the eyes as he speaks once more.

“Renjun, I want to fuck you, I want to feel you around me, I’ve wanted it for so long,” he says all at once, and Renjun is honestly flattered. No one’s ever been so vulnerable like this to him before and it’s taking his breath away.

Renjun spreads his legs, pulling his thighs toward his chest and putting his hole on full display. “Jeno, I swear if you don’t put your dick in me _now_ —” He halts only because he feels Jeno press the tip of his cock to Renjun’s hole. Renjun whimpers. 

“Are you okay?” Jeno asks, and Renjun doesn’t know why he wouldn’t be, but he nods. “Okay,” Jeno says, and he links one hand with one of Renjun’s before pushing all the way inside him. His hips hit Renjun’s ass with an obnoxious _smack_ , and Jeno mutters “Sorry,” and Renjun just pats him lightly on the cheek. 

“Fuck me _hard_ ,” he demands, and Jeno is in no place to disobey. He speeds up his pace, every thrust stronger than the last, and Renjun loves it. 

Renjun is so fucking loud, letting out loud moans— Borderline pornographic ones— As Jeno fucks him. Jeno never thought he’d be brought closer to the edge just by someone’s noises, and maybe it’s just because it’s Renjun, but the _sounds_ he’s letting out are making Jeno want to fuck him even harder. And he does. He gets a bit nervous about Renjun hitting his head on his headboard, because Renjun’s small frame is getting pushed up the bed little by little with each thrust, so Jeno reaches to put a hand on the top of Renjun’s head, just wanting to be careful that Renjun doesn’t hurt himself. Renjun pauses his porn star-level moans to coo at Jeno, who blushes and leans down to kiss Renjun so he doesn’t have to bear the embarrassment. 

Renjun kisses him back momentarily, before he pulls away to say: “Wait, can we flip over?” He didn’t want to ride Jeno before, but he’s changed his mind. Jeno’s taking such good care of him that he wants to return the favor, wants to do some of the work, too.

Jeno gives him a puzzled look but nods, and gingerly removes himself from Renjun’s hole. Renjun lets out a quiet whine, forever hating not being full, but he pushes it aside and orders Jeno to sit up against the headboard. Jeno does, seeming to understand where this is going, and he’s correct in his guessing when Renjun kneels over him, straddling him.

Renjun reaches for Jeno’s cock, and Jeno helps him, holding onto his small waist to steady the smaller boy as he lines himself up to Jeno’s dick. Renjun lets out a breathy moan as he sinks down on Jeno’s length until he sits all the way down, hips flush against Jeno’s. 

“Oh my god,” Renjun breathes out, and he takes a deep breath before he raises himself off of Jeno’s cock. “Jeno, I—” he breaks off into a moan, throwing his head back when Jeno grabs his waist and pulls his hips down while thrusting up into Renjun. So much for Renjun doing some of the work.

“Jeno, I—” he tries again, gasping at another harsh thrust from Jeno, “I’m supposed to be, fuck, supposed to be doing the work.” He can hardly even concentrate, he’s so blissed out, linking his arms around Jeno’s neck.

“Hmm,” Jeno says, “I think I like this better.” Renjun moans and collapses against him.

“Are you okay?” Jeno asks again, and Renjun finds enough strength in his utterly boneless body to pull back and look him in the eye as he says “Jeno, I’m fine, but I’m not going to be if you don’t fuck me til I—” 

Jeno thrusts up hard, gripping Renjun’s hips so tightly he’s probably leaving bruises, which only turns Renjun on more. “Like that?”

“ _Yes_ , Jeno,” Renjun whines, and then he cries out “Jeno, I’m gonna cum, fuck.” Jeno doesn’t say anything, and then Renjun is crying out, cumming in a sticky mess between them. Renjun lets himself fall against Jeno’s chest, burying his face in Jeno’s neck as Jeno continues to fuck up into him. Renjun can only whimper with every thrust, because he just came harder than he _ever_ has and he’s so goddamn _sensitive_. 

“Can I come in you?” Jeno asks, kissing the top of Renjun’s head, and Renjun nods because it’s all he has the strength to do. 

Jeno grunts, thrusting up once more into Renjun before spilling inside him. Jeno lets his head fall back, making what sounds like a painful _thud_ against the headboard, but he doesn’t care. He lets his hands fall from Renjun’s hips, instead wrapping his arms around Renjun’s waist. They each catch their breaths, and then Renjun finally finds the strength to speak again. 

“Jeno?”

Jeno makes a low noise in the back of his throat, but otherwise he doesn’t move.

“Jeno,” Renjun repeats, and finally Jeno cracks one eye to look at him. “That was… really good.”

“It was,” Jeno responds, and now he raises his head to look Renjun in the eyes. He gives Renjun a soft smile, eyes turning into crescents and Renjun feels an overwhelming surge of… He doesn’t know _what,_ but he does know that Jeno makes him very, very happy. He likes him a lot. Renjun takes Jeno’s face in his hands and kisses him, hard, and it takes Jeno’s breath away.

“Renjun, I—” Jeno tries to say when they break apart, but Renjun cuts him off by pressing a finger to his lips.

“Will you be my boyfriend?” Renjun asks eagerly. Jeno opens his mouth, and then closes it before opening it again. 

“Yes, I will— I was supposed to ask you that,” he says, and it almost sounds like he’s _whining_ , and Renjun laughs. 

“What, are you mad I’m not letting you wear the pants?”

Jeno scoffs. “You’re ridiculous,” he says, but then he grabs Renjun by the waist again and pulls him impossibly closer, kissing him once more. When he pulls away, they rest their foreheads against one another, and Renjun giggles despite himself. 

“I really like you, Renjun,” Jeno says softly, and Renjun grins. 

“I really like you too, Jeno,” he says, and then he clenches around Jeno’s soft cock, which he had almost forgotten was still inside of him.

“Renjun?” Jeno asks, and Renjun hums in response.

“Yeah?”

“I’m gonna fuck you again if you keep that up.”

Renjun laughs, bright and sunny and making Jeno’s heart swell. “I’ve been waiting for this _forever,_ Jeno, I’ll take what I can get.”

“ _You’ve_ been waiting forever? I—” Renjun cuts him off before he can finish.

“I asked Jaemin for your number a long time ago, Jeno, but he wouldn’t give it to me because he said you had to grow some balls and ask me yourself.”

Jeno’s jaw drops. “Are you serious?” 

Renjun snickers. “Don’t tell him I told you that.” 

“I’m going to kill that little shit,” Jeno declares, and Renjun grabs his jaw with one hand.

“Why don’t you put that energy into something else,” he suggests, and Jeno smirks. 

“Yeah? Like what?”

Renjun just kisses him again.

⭑ _epilogue_ ⭑

“Renjun,” Jeno is calling down the hall, “If you don’t hurry the fuck up we’re going to be late.”

They’re _supposed_ to be on their way to one of their now weekly double-dates with Donghyuck and Mark, featuring Jaemin, but today is particularly special because for once, Jaemin has a boyfriend of his own to bring. Jeno would never admit it, but he knows how important this is to Jaemin and for once in his life he actually wants to show up on time.

“I’m coming,” Renjun protests, and he speeds out of the bathroom a moment later, nearly forgetting to turn the light off. He bounds over to Jeno and grins at him, taking his coat from Jeno’s hand and slipping into it.

“You look beautiful,” Jeno says in admiration, and Renjun stands on his tiptoes to give him a kiss. 

“You look pretty handsome yourself, Jen,” he responds, and Jeno takes his hand, leading him out the door. 

When they arrive at the restaurant, they find Jaemin outside, clearly anxiously awaiting their arrival.

“Chill out, Jaem,” Jeno says amusedly as they approach him, “We aren’t even late.”

“We’re technically two minutes late,” Renjun pipes up, and Jeno responds “Whose fault is that?” Renjun sticks his tongue out at Jeno when he’s not looking.

“Hi, Renjun,” Jaemin says, smiling at him and pointedly ignoring Jeno’s comment. “I just need to remind you that Jisung is really shy so please, please don’t make him uncomfortable.” He’s saying this mainly to Jeno, eyes narrowed, and Jeno gives him a sheepish smile.

“We won’t,” Renjun promises, grabbing onto Jeno’s arm. 

“I know _you_ won’t, Renjun, honey,” Jaemin says sweetly, “I’m worried about this idiot right here.” He glares at Jeno, who glares back, until they break and snort at the same time. 

“I’m not going to embarrass _your baby_ , Jaemin,” Jeno says, and Jaemin squeals indignantly “He _is_ my baby!” Jeno rolls his eyes and the three of them make their way inside.

Jeno and Renjun end up squishing into one side of the booth with Mark and Donghyuck, which works out because Donghyuck is practically in Mark’s lap, anyway. Jaemin slides in next to a really tall kid who must be Jisung, and Jeno doesn’t miss the way Jaemin squeezes Jisung’s thigh encouragingly. 

“Everyone,” Jaemin announces once they’ve all settled in, “This is Jisung, my boyfriend. Jisung, this is everyone.” Jisung smiles shyly and looks at all of them through his bangs, and Jeno feels his heart melt a little. Of course Jaemin would fall for this kid, he’s adorable, and Jaemin loves having someone to take care of.

“I’m Jeno,” Jeno adds helpfully, since Jaemin’s introduction of four of them was essentially useless. “This is Renjun, my boyfriend,” the two of them exchange little waves, “And, believe it or not, these are _two_ people. Mark, and Donghyuck is the one in his lap.” Mark blushes at the same time that Donghyuck preens. 

“Hey,” Jisung says quietly. There’s a moment of silence, and then Renjun, the angel that he is, asks, “Do I know you from somewhere?”

Jisung bites his lip. “I don’t know, I’m a freshman, and I mostly take dance classes.”

Renjun claps his hands together enthusiastically. “ _That’s_ it! Didn’t you have a solo song at one of the school of dance performances? I went with my friend and I remember watching you. You were really, really good.”

Jisung is blushing now, but Jeno can tell he’s pleased with the compliment. _Typical Renjun, always knows the right thing to say_ , Jeno thinks adoringly. 

“I’m not that good, it’s just that dancing comes really easily to me,” Jisung says, trying desperately to brush off Renjun’s complement, but if Jeno knows anything about Renjun, he knows that he won’t let it go and he’ll never drop it until Jisung accepts it. 

“Mm, no, I think you’re really talented too,” Renjun says, just like Jeno knew he would, and he smiles to himself.

He loves his friends, Jeno thinks, and he especially loves Renjun. They still haven’t used the L-word, but Jeno thinks that they will, sometime soon. He gets out of his head enough to take everything in, and it just makes him feel happier than he already is. Jaemin and Donghyuck are bickering about something, typical drama queens that they are, Renjun and Jisung are now talking animatedly about something dance related, and Mark is looking at him with an expression that clearly says “ _Help_ ” when Donghyuck tries to drag Mark into whatever spat he’s having with Jaemin. 

They’re all idiots, but he loves them. Even Jisung.

Jeno reaches under the table, grabbing Renjun’s hand and squeezing it gently. Renjun turns to look at him, grinning brightly before returning to his conversation with Jisung, and Jeno wonders how he ever got so lucky.


End file.
